Just wondering, what would be the earliest serious attempt at a Bigfoot report? The Mt. Saint Helens "Ape Canyon" story dates back to 1924. This Wikipedia piece tells about it, and gives some possible rational explanations for what happened...

The story fits in with the tall tale tradition of the American west. A group of miners claimed they were attacked by "mountain devil apes" who bombarded their cabin with rocks. Later it turned out that some local youths had been throwing rocks down into the steep, narrow canyon around that time, possibly not knowing or caring that there were miners down there.

One of the miners also lost a lot of credibility when it was revealed he had made all kinds of claims of psychic powers, etc., etc. Here is his story in his own words, recorded by his son in 1967...

There may be some psychological symbolism at work in the Bigfoot myth. It is so similar to the ancient Green Man myth of Europe. Forest spirits that seem to be a lot like Bigfoot are found in folklore worldwide.

...In his published journals, Thompson recorded seeing large footprints near what is now Jasper, Alberta, in 1811. It has been suggested that these prints were similar to what has since been called the sasquatch. However, Thompson noted that these tracks showed "a small Nail at the end of each [toe]", and stated that these tracks "very much resembles a large Bear's Track"....

The Jacko hoax was a Canadian newspaper story about a gorilla supposedly caught near Yale, British Columbia in 1884. The story, titled "What is it?, A strange creature captured above Yale. A British Columbia Gorilla", appeared in the British Columbia newspaper the Daily Colonist on July 4, 1884. The original newspaper article describes "Jacko" as a gorilla and not a Sasquatch. However, the "Jacko" story has been used by Bigfoot advocates as evidence for the existence of Sasquatch. Many books about Bigfoot and cryptids have featured the event and cite the original newspaper article....

KevinLevites wrote:Evidentally, things like this are part of the traditions of some tribes.

The whole bigfoot thing may actually be worthy of study by a cultural anthropologist.

Yeti (Himalayas), Orang Pendek (Sumatra) . . . it appears to be a common mythology.

Wild Man (Europe), Schratt (Germany), woodwose (Middle English)....

(I'd just like to point out that wikipedia conflates the wild man and the woodwose, but they were probably two different things during the middle ages -- one was most likely considered a physical creature, and the other merely a spirit.)